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As governments push to adopt sustainable practices, one holy grail is creating working environments that achieve net-zero energy consumption. That's the idea behind a newly opened office building at the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, Colo. Known as the Research Support Facility (RSF), the structure is designed to create as much energy as it consumes, making it one of the world's most energy-efficient buildings.

This article is very useful in outlining the pyramid of achievements a small nonprofit should be looking to achieve step by step. IT asset building starts with the mission statement and choosing the people who will implement your strategies.

This post is an article linking to a series that outlines the building of IT assets in a nonprofit organization

This article emphasizes the need for a nonprofit to get excellent functionality out of a website and worry about looks second. The website is critical in importance before social networking can even be considered. The IT assets of a nonprofit should be built in a definite order.

This post is an article linking to a series that outlines the building of IT assets in a nonprofit organization

This article shows non-profits how to build a website step by step, as well as how to get donations set up.

3-part series providing an overview of options for hosting and managing nonprofit websites.

This is a secondary post to accompany one of my earlier ones on public education and administration strategies. Related to previous post about Obama wanting to create an Ed-Tech agency. This official White House website posts a complete outline of Obama's broader plan for American Innovation to build the economy of the 21st century (in the form of an executive summary).      Interesting pyramid figure conceptually charting the projeced impact on innovation for "Sustainable Growth" and quality jobs.

Obama talking about the importance of investing in wireless technology in Marquette, MI, up north last Thursday, Feb. 10, 2011. This part of a new White House focus on "innovation, competitiveness and infrastructure as a pathway to jobs and 'winning the future.' The president compared the goal of extending wireless access to important successes that connected previous generations of Americans: the building of railroads and the federal highway system."

I really like the plans he is pushing for. Mobile devices is obviously the current frontier to win. The impact on nonprofit activity will be enormous. Most businesses for that matter now have to consider a mobile device plan in supplement to their initial web design plans.

Watson, the computer that has recently been competing on Jeopardy, could eventually hold a position in Government. Technology like the such that is used in Watson could eventually help government municipalities with garnering and analyzing data and information and regurgitating back to people who need it. For instance, a person looking to gain a building license could tell the computer what it is planning on building, and instead of having to sift through possibly thousands of pages of information, the computer could simply return a checklist to the person.

This site shows government technology solutions for local and state governments. I was particularly drawn in by the article of about Watson, the Jeopardy game show computer contestant, and how this type of technology could be beneficial to government programs.

Simple use by New York city of QR codes on building permits to provide links to additional information. 

Wow. Just think, I didn't even know what QR codes were a few weeks ago. I really see them blooming in the next few years (Ha!Bloomberg/ Blooming!). I scanned one from a Meijers grocery coupon and got a 10 second commercial sent back to me.

Very progressive! Excellent use for that specific labeling technology --- especially in a high density population area where a construction project could be a big hassle. This would make it easy for the public passerby to find out more about it, and perhaps a target completion date. Plus, you are certain the contractor has a legal permit from the city of New York for the work they are doing.

New York City-based Catchafire, a business that links nonprofits with skilled volunteers who are ready to perform discrete, pro bono tasks. The goal is two-fold: to help nonprofits build capacity within their organization by using volunteers and to provide professionals with high-quality, skills-based volunteer experiences.

This article articulates the reasons why custom databases are not the best option.... The author didn't leave much space to endorse the other side

The Kentucky Office Of Homeland Security (KOHS) has released an iPhone app that allows users to be "the eyes and ears" of Kentucky in hopes to prevent domestic terror attacks. The app allows users to submit information on suspects who act strangely, ask questions about building security, or other such things. The app also allows users to submit information anonymously.

MobileCause is currently the leading mobile giving platform in the U.S., has been steadily building a mobile giving client base since 2009. They have an impressive client list of the largest, most well known, nonprofits in the US.

Too much is too much in a website and especially if you are demanding others to build around you. The project objectives for this redesign were vague and ambitious. This is a recipe for cost overruns. So far no one is rushing to comply with the objectives set out by this redesign team.

My subject of discussion on posterous this week was about Grand Rapids trying to pass a millage for the Rapid this May. Improved public transit has proven to spur economic growth in "dying" cities (or areas of cities). Better transportation means better employment, incentives to build businesses, and saving money on gas!

Some good alternatives to wordpress, Joomla for the do it yourself web setup

This study empirically validates the institutional actions in the adoption of IT identified by King et al. [24], who review strategies of institutional intervention in IT adoption to identify categories of institutional actions that can stimulate or retard IT diffusion, namely knowledge building, knowledge deployment, subsidy, innovation directive, mobilization, and standard settin